Between October 7, 2023, and June 7, 2024, there were 12,400 pro-Palestinian protests in the US, according to a study named “Protests in the United States on Palestine and Israel, 2023-2024.”
The Crowd Counting Consortium (CCC) – a collaboration between the University of Connecticut and the Nonviolent Action Lab at Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation – carried out the research.
The data derives from multiple sources and records information about dates of events, as well as location, crowd size, arrests, police presence, and recorded violence.
CCC found that in the eight months between those dates, there were 12,400 pro-Palestinian protests across the US, involving more than 1.5 million people.
In contrast, CCC recorded 2,301 pro-Israel events in the same time period, which, though smaller, “is still sizable for a foreign policy matter.” Furthermore, about a quarter of the pro-Israel events took place in the first month after the October 7 massacre, mainly in the form of vigils or protests for the release of hostages.
Of the remaining events, 38% (770 events) were weekly gatherings organized by Run for Their Lives each Sunday.
Of the 631 events (31%), were direct counter-protests to the pro-Palestinian events.
Why was there such a difference in number of protest events?
CCC hypothesized that the difference in the number of events is due to the fact that, for the most part, the US is a strong ally of Israel, whereas it “does not act as a primary advocate for Palestinian self-determination.”
As a result, US-based advocates for the Palestinians have “much to complain about in terms of US policy” whereas the advocates for Israel do not.
In terms of location, CCC noted that until April 2024, most pro-Palestine activities did not take place on campuses, even though many students were involved.
However, between April and May 2024, “Palestinian solidarity encampments mushroomed at colleges.”
By June, CCC recorded encampments at 138 universities, adding that most of these were established after the NYPD cleared the initial camp at Columbia University.
From October 7, 2023, to April 7, 2024, only 19% of US pro-Palestinian protests took place at universities, however, from April through June, this grew to 55%.
CCC recorded 9,295 arrests at pro-Palestinian protests in the eight-month recording period. Of the arrests made, 60% were not on campus.
While many reports may suggest otherwise, CCC concluded that the pro-Palestinian movement “has not been violent” using property damage (167 reports) and police injuries (18 reports) as evidence.
The CCC also claims that it saw “far more violence directed at people protesting for Palestinian liberation or against genocide than we’ve seen from them.”
The CCC report also said that “the rhetorical core of the pro-Palestinian movement has not been a call for violence against Jews, but rather a call for freedom for Palestinians.”
This is not consistent with multiple other reports. Many American universities have banned Students for Justice in Palestine chapters for violent or intimidating behavior. In October, Brown University accused SJP of “threatening, intimidating and harassing actions.”
While the CCC report does not classify “from the river to the sea” as a violent chant, many Jews and Israelis perceive it as a call for the genocide of Jews between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
There have been multiple recorded incidents of pro-Palestinian protesters expressing solidarity with Hamas, such as at Columbia encampments earlier this year, or calling for intifada.
At Columbia in April, protesters chanted, “[Izz ad-Din] Al-Qassam [Brigades], make us proud, take another soldier out. We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground. Go Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets too.”
A Jewish student at Yale was jabbed in the eye with a flag pole by anti-Israel protesters.